🇷🇺 Kisel – The Russian Drink That Saved an Entire City

🍓🍒 Kisel is a traditional Russian drink with a thick, jelly-like consistency. Today, it is made from berry or fruit juice, sugar, and starch, which gives it its signature texture.

However, this recipe hasn’t always existed. Kisel has been known in Rus’ since ancient times. The word “kisel” itself comes from the Old Russian words kisly (sour) or kvasheny (fermented). In ancient times, to make kisel, people fermented oat milk by mixing oat flour with water or pressing soaked grains.

🇷🇺 Oat, rye, and wheat kisels are among the oldest Russian dishes. Such kisel was thick, sour, and in texture resembled aspic (which, by the way, we’ve already written about in this section).

✍️ One of the oldest historical sources about Russia, the chronicle The Tale of Bygone Years, also preserves an incredible story.

🇷🇺 In 997 AD, during the Pecheneg siege of Belgorod, famine struck the city. However, following the advice of an elder, the residents cooked kisel from oats, wheat, bran, and honey, then invited several Pechenegs to see how the city was faring.

The Pechenegs tasted the kisel and loved it. They took some of the kisel mixture back to their camp, cooked it for their leaders, and after filling their stomachs, lifted the siege.

😋 After such a story, you absolutely must try this “life-saving” drink!

#Russiancuisine

@From Russia with love

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